“We didn’t really even talk about it, we made a little fun of it in the (Wednesday night) meeting,’’ Schwartz said. “It was light-hearted and we just go play. A lot worse has been said about us. If that motivated our guys, I’m glad it happened.’’

Whatever the motivation, the Lions are now alone in first place in the NFC North with a 7-5 record. The Packers fell to 5-6-1 with the Chicago Bears (6-5) waiting to play at the Vikings (2-8-1) on Sunday.

It’s the first Detroit win on Thanksgiving since they beat the Packers in 2003.

It was kind of a big deal.

Early on the offense was marching down the field, executing like a fine-tuned machine. But they turned the ball over three times in their first four possessions.

Reggie Bush fumbled heading into the end zone on the first possession even though he had guaranteed it wouldn’t happen again.

Then quarterback Matthew Stafford had a strip sack that was recovered by Morgan Burnett who ran in one yard for a touchdown.

Then on the next possession, Stafford threw a pass short left intended for Kris Durham that was picked off by Tramon Williams.

The boo-birds were out at Ford Field. They’d seen this scenario before and it didn’t end well. They’re die-hard supporters, but they get fidgety fast thanks to the past.

“Look, you’re not going to play a perfect game. You’re not going to have a game with no turnovers and do everything right in a game,’’ Schwartz said. “There’s always going to be something that happens in a game that you have to do better, that you have to overcome.’’

The offense was moving the ball which was a good sign. They went 66 yards on their first possession and 80 yards on the next, but all they had to show for it was a field goal.

After Bush’s fumble they went right back to him on the next two snaps and he had runs of five and 13 yards. He finished with 117 rushing yards and 65 receiving yards.

“(I bounced back) by leaning on my teammates, leaning on the support of my teammates,’’ Bush said. “Them just keeping me focused, keeping me in the game I was really down on myself. Just disappointed that I fumbled the ball again, it’s something I have to clean up, we have to be able to clean up our turnovers. Because in the playoffs or a bigger game that would get you beaten.’’

Joique Bell pitched in with a career-high 94 rushing yards.

The offense stayed with its plan and the defense totally dominated, keeping quarterback Matt Flynn and the Packers’ offense mostly off the field. The Lions doubled the Packers in time of possession 40:26 to 19:34.

Johnson was huge in getting the offense going, finishing with six catches for 101 yards. Bush and Bell each ran in from a yard out for a score.

“You can’t play scared, a lot of people made fun of me a couple weeks ago (after the fake field goal call) for saying we don’t play scared, we don’t coach scared,’’ Schwartz said. “That’s another sign of that. We weren’t scared to give (Bush) the ball, Matt Stafford wasn’t afraid to go back downfield after he had thrown an interception. .... That’s just this team’s personality. It’s going to serve us well over the long run.’’

And, of course, the defense is never scared.

“We just understood the task that was at hand,’’ defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said. “First is obviously stopping the run and stopping Eddie Lacy, he’s been playing great for them. (It was) very important to get that done and then obviously we did that for the most part. (We got) after their quarterback. He liked to hold the ball and we saw that and I believe we took advantage of it.’’

If you call seven sacks taking advantage, sure. Rookie defensive ends Ezekiel Ansah and Devin Taylor each had a pair with Suh, Stephen Tulloch and Louis Delmas each getting Flynn down once.

The Packers, who averaged 424.4 yards of offense entering the game, finished with 126 with just 24 of those on rushing. That’s 105 yards less than their rushing average per game.

“It’s the kind of performance (from the defensive line that) we expect,’’ Schwartz said. “I thought they played with discipline in a game that got a little chippy, I was proud of their effort.’’

The Lions have the weekend off before re-grouping to prepare to play at the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 9.

They exorcised the demon of nine straight losses on Thanksgiving and also snapped a two-game losing streak.

The even bounced back from a rough start on a nationally televised game.

In the end they saw what they are made of. It could bode well for the final four-game push to the playoffs.

“We finished the game, we played well as a team,’’ Bush said. “When we get out of our own way we can be pretty special.’’

About the Author

Paula Pasche is a longtime sports writer for The Oakland Press and blogs at http://oplions.blogspot.com/. Author of book, "100 Things Lions Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." Follow on Tout and Twitter @paulapasche. Reach the author at paula.pasche@oakpress.com
or follow Paula on Twitter: @PaulaPasche.